A good news story: Hague 2019 now in force
The Hague Convention
On 1 July 2025, the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Hague Convention” or the “Convention”) entered into force in the UK. The intention of the Convention is clear: to create a more streamlined and uniform system of recognition and enforcement processes, and to address issues which have arisen post Brexit.
There are currently 30 contracting parties to the Hague Convention (the 27 EU member states, Ukraine, Uruguay, and now the UK). The Convention is set to enter into force in 2026 for Albania, Montenegro and Andorra. There are a further six signatories who have not yet ratified the Convention, including the USA. It is unknown exactly when any such ratification would be expected. Any party to the Hague Convention can decide by way of declaration not to implement the Convention with a future contracting party.
The “old regime”
Since 31 December 2020, the UK has adhered to domestic rules in overseas jurisdictions when taking steps to recognise or enforce a judgment from the English and Welsh courts. This is a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, meaning that the Recast Brussels Regulation and Lugano Convention – the two cornerstones of the “old regime” – are no longer applicable. The Recast Brussels Regulation provides for the automatic recognition of judgments across the EU, while the Lugano Convention extends such a principle to include Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. It is, therefore, no surprise that the UK has existed in an uncertain legal landscape since the end of 2020 when it comes to the issue of international recognition and enforcement of judgments.
Key provisions of the Convention
The Convention applies to judgments in civil and commercial matters only [1].
A judgment is eligible for recognition if just one of 13 prescribed requirements is met [2]. Such requirements include the person against whom a judgment is being enforced being habitually resident (or having their principal place of business) in the originating state; and a defendant consenting during the course of proceedings to the jurisdiction of the originating state. Judgments in respect of rights in immovable property binding on those beyond the related legal proceedings are dealt with separately [3].
The Convention provides six grounds for refusal of recognition or enforcement of a judgment [4]. These include procedural errors; notifying a defendant of proceedings, and situations where recognition or enforcement would be either “manifestly incompatible” with the public policy of a requested state, or inconsistent with a previous judgment of the requested state in a dispute between the same parties to the current underlying dispute.
Strengths of the Hague Convention
The Hague Convention has only recently come into force in the UK, and only time will tell how smoothly and efficiently it will operate. That said, a simple review of the Convention’s scope and provisions tells us that it will almost certainly contribute to a more consistent approach to global recognition and enforcement than the UK has been used to in recent years. In the future, it could well operate akin to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
The Convention applies to both exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction clauses, whereas the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreement 2005 (which the UK still has the benefit of) applies only to an exclusive jurisdiction clause.
A further significant benefit is that the requested state does not undertake any review of the merits of the judgment in question [5]. This contributes to the overall expectation that the Convention will improve both efficiency and outcome when it comes to international recognition and enforcement.
Limitations of the Hague Convention
Naturally, no legislation is perfect. It only applies to the proceedings which were initiated on or after 1 July 2025, meaning that proceedings initiated between 31 December 2020 and 1 July 2025 are still subject to domestic laws of foreign jurisdictions. It is also the case that the Hague Convention does not provide for the automatic recognition of judgments (as was the case with the Recast Brussels Regulation and the Lugano Convention). Instead, the Hague Convention provides a uniform procedure.
Some further limitations are considered below in our “Practical tips”.
Practical tips and considerations
Below are some practical tips and effects to bear in mind when considering the Hague Convention:
The Hague Convention is set to further strengthen the UK as a forum for dispute resolution. This is in light of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU where previously parties may have been reluctant to use the English and Welsh courts to only later face a costly and lengthy process to enforce any subsequent judgment.
As noted above the procedure for recognition and enforcement will now benefit from the consistency afforded by the Hague Convention to applicable proceedings. That said, the procedure is to be controlled by the law of the requested state, and there will naturally be discrepancies if a dispute involves multiple jurisdictions. This may be the case in particular in respect of a dispute involving an agreement with an asymmetrical jurisdiction clause (often found in financial documentation) where one party is required to bring proceedings in front of a specific court, but the other party has a wider choice.
Bear in mind that the Hague Convention does exclude a number of categories of claim from its scope, including defamation; insolvency; tax; customs; revenue; administrative law matters; anti-trust; privacy and intellectual property matters. Applicability of the Hague Convention should be considered carefully before any application is made under the Convention.
Rosenblatt Law has a wealth of experience in advising clients in cross border disputes and in the recognition and enforcement of judgments across numerous jurisdictions. Rosenblatt Law is well placed to advise on dispute avoidance, including the use of jurisdiction clauses. Please contact Dispute Resolution Partner, Elizabeth Weeks, or Dispute Resolution Associate, Emma Booth, for further information.
[1) Article 1(1) - This Convention shall apply to the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil or commercial matters. It shall not extend in particular to revenue, customs or administrative matters.
[2] Article 5(1)(a-m) - https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=137
[3] Article 6 - Notwithstanding Article 5, a judgment that ruled on rights in rem in immovable property shall be recognised and enforced if and only if the property is situated in the State of origin.
[4] Article 7(1)(a-f) - https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=137
[5] Article 4(2) - There shall be no review of the merits of the judgment in the requested State. There may only be such consideration as is necessary for the application of this Convention.
Rosenblatt Law
July 2025